My Recent NZ trip

[CoryH]

Hi All,

Just got back from a month in New Zealand. Have attached a few shots here for you to see, check out the rest at

http://flickr.com/photos/34776961@N04/

All images shot with D90, 18-200 VR, What a fantastic walk-a-bout combo! I spent the entire month and only went for my longer lens was at the seal colony(Needed it and worth it). Got about 4000 in total, still sorting the good ones! Please let me know what you think of these 4 or any of the others on Flickr, I'd really appreciate the feedback(Good or bad)

[ozimax]

Corey, these are outstanding. Where was #1 taken? Did you get to use the video function on the D90?

Ozi.

[CoryH]

Thanks Ozi,

#1 was taken whilst walking the Hollyford Track, It was taken at the Pyke Hutt lodge(First evenings accomidation)

#2 taken at Nuggets point(SE Coast, South Island), This little guy cought my eye as he landed right in front of me, No flash.. Wish i had it fitted at the time, I think the slight PP fixed it though, wat do you think?

#3 Is loooking down McLean falls(SE end of Southland)

#4 is just on the side of the Milford Rd, I couldnt believe how blue the water was!

Last 2 have no PP, straight off camera. First has had Saturation, levles, brightness contract etc, 2nd has saturation and exposure tweaked.

[CoryH]

Yes, used the video function a few times, havent had time to look at the results yet though, will let you know how they come out.

[ozimax]

#2 taken at Nuggets point(SE Coast, South Island), This little guy cought my eye as he landed right in front of me, No flash.. Wish i had it fitted at the time, I think the slight PP fixed it though, wat do you think?

The colours are sensational and the PP works very well IMHO.

I have visited Whykickamoocow land at least a dozen times, maybe more, but I've never been to these areas. I'll have to put them on my to-do-list. Glad you enjoyed your trip, sorry, trup.

Ozi

[rookie2]

The colours are sensational and the PP works very well IMHO.

You have certainly put the D90 to great use with outsatnding clarity, composition and colour IMHO.

What workflow do you use?

cheers
R2

[surenj]

Sensational!

I would like to see a wider angle of the first shot to give more sense of scale...

[CoryH]

surenj,

See http://flickr.com/photos/34776961@N04/3275508488/ for a wider shot, It's a few minutes after, so there is a bit of cloud but you get the sense of scale, this was shot at 200mm with VR on.

[CoryH]

rookie2,

This is what I think you mean by workflow.
-Everything is shot in RAW
-I then use gimp-batch to convert to JPG command if anyone is interested("C:\Program Files\GIMP-2.0\bin\ufraw-batch.exe" "C:\Users\coryh\Desktop\100NCD90\RAW\100NCD90\*" --out-type=jpg --shrink=2)
-Any PP that needs to be done is done on the RAW files using UFRaw then Gimp
-Then save as JPG(Max quality)

[rookie2]

Thanks Corey

Gimp and UF Raw are alien to me (a basic CS3 user) but in your hands they are powerful tools!!

Cheers
R2

[whoalse]

nice images.....Love them all.

I'm lusting to visit NZ and am planning for it next year but will only be south island for about 2 weeks. Any suggestions?

[CoryH]

If your planning a trip to NZ and you are looking to get some nice photos then southisland is the place to do it IMHO, The drive from Dunedien to Invercargill via the Catlins(Along the coast) was excellent, plenty of shor walks to water falls and ocean lookouts etc.
Also the drive from Greymouth to Christchurch via Arthurs pass was very scenic.

Although in the North Island(Different world to the South Island) the absolute must do without any question is the rotorua thermal area witht he boiling mud and thermal wonderland parks, Waimangu and Wai-O-Tapu in particular.

Doesnt matter if you go for 2 weeks or 2 months your going to want longer there, I could easily go back for another month!!

[ewm3]

Brings back nice memories! I can vouch for the colour of the water too!. South Island is magnificent; North Island is different. Like the pics here and can't wait to go back again; unfortunately, I'm being 'dragged off' somewhere else!

[Mr Darcy]

If your planning a trip to NZ and you are looking to get some nice photos then southisland is the place to do it IMHO, The drive from Dunedien to Invercargill via the Catlins(Along the coast) was excellent, plenty of shor walks to water falls and ocean lookouts etc.
Also the drive from Greymouth to Christchurch via Arthurs pass was very scenic.

...

Doesnt matter if you go for 2 weeks or 2 months your going to want longer there, I could easily go back for another month!!

For the Caitlins look up the "Southern Scenic Route" for more info. It is an as yet undeveloped part of NZ & is truly magnificent. We were there in September. Most of the time, we free camped, or used honesty boxes. I believe it can get very crowded in NZ school holidays though. & be aware that because it is so undeveloped, open shops can be hard to find. Our camper van ran out of LPG on day 3 and we had to travel about 200km to find a place to get a refill (Invercargill). We complained about it to the rental company & they refunded us a day's hire, so it worked out reasonably well.

I have to say I prefer the drive from Greymouth to Wanaka to Arthur's Pass, but then I've been to AP three times now & have yet to have visibilty further than about 20 meters

Can't comment on North Island. Never been there, but if you have a few spare days, Stewart Island (the TRUE South Island!) is well worth a trip.